The meeting was moderated by Mr. Yashar Karimov, National Coordinator of RECP activities in Azerbaijan and opened by welcoming speech of representative of Ministry of Economy, Ms. Konul Aliyeva, Deputy Head of Department of Cooperation with International Organizations, Ministry of Economy followed by Ms. Tatiana Chernyavskaya, EU4Environment Project Manager and Mr. Faig Mutallimov Head of Department of Ecological Policy of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources who stated the importance of the Project for Azerbaijan and readiness of their ministries to render full support for the successful implementation of planned activities and expressed their gratitude to the UNIDO and its National Implementation Partner (NIP) (ACE Group Consultants) for high level organization of the meeting.
The first session of the event hosted presentations delivered by Ms. Tatiana Chernyavskaya, EU4Environment Project Manager, who informed participants about UNIDO’s green growth and circular economy initiatives worldwide and unlocking opportunities for green growth in Azerbaijan, as well as RECP Clubs experience in Ukraine where RECP assessment is provided as paid service which is widely accepted by small and medium sized companies across Ukraine.
The next speakers Mr. Kamran Rzayev, National Action Coordinator in Azerbaijan, Mr. Yashar Karimov, National Coordinator of RECP activities in Azerbaijan and Ms. Gulnar Mirzayeva, Executive Director, Research Centre for Sustainable Development and Green Economy named after N.Ganjavi under UNEC talked about current progress and achievements related with RECP activities, RECP clubs and problems and challenges faced in the implementation of the RECP activities in Azerbaijan.
Representatives from SMBDA, Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, National Academy of Sciences and Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction stated in their speeches that the goals of RECP activities are well aligned with priorities declared in newly accepted “Socio-economic development strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2022─2026” approved by the Presidential decree on 22 July 2022, namely item 3.5. Strategic framework for clean environment and “green growth country”. Representatives from SMBDA and the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs expressed their readiness to support the NIP in increasing the number of companies in Baku and Ganja RECP clubs and to have a separate meeting to discuss the way forward in this direction.
The second session of the event continued with presentation delivered by Mrs. Asya Chalabova, Administrator/Team leader of the NIP who touched achievements and problems faced during Phase I of implementation of RECP and circular economy activities in Azerbaijan and presented topics for discussion and requested feedbacks from participants on the overcoming of challenges and ways forward. She mentioned that due to lack of awareness of company managers and owners on RECP and Circular Economy activities, the NIP was forced to spend more time and resources on the awareness campaign. Other reasons causing delays in project schedule were the limitations brought by COVID-19 pandemic, as well as summer period that accommodated the first months of the project. She also presented short video reels on the 1st company visit of RECP experts and trainees to the demonstration companies.
The next presenter Mr. Ilkin Aliyev, RECP Club Facilitator spoke on preliminary findings from the first visits to the Club members where he touched positive and negative experiences they witnessed in the companies visited.
Another speaker Mr. Vasif Hasanov, Head of Center for Sustainable Smart Cities and Regions named after Nizami Ganjavi within the Ganja State University which also hosts Ganja RECP Club spoke on the role of the Ganja RECP Club in the agenda of the Ganja State University and planned activities and particularly stated the problem with engagement of companies to the Club, especially when they are requested to sign participation letter with NIP. Most of the companies refuse to sign or escape to sign it with different reasons or just simply not responding their phone calls.
The next presenter Mr. Tofig Hasanov, RECP expert informed the participants about industrial waste mapping and achievements and problems faced in data collection, data availability and improper data segregation on the industries. Representative from State Statistics Committee expressed their willingness to provide reliable data on the waste quantities across the industries to the extent of permission as per the related legislation.
The final presenter Ms. Tatiana Chernyavskaya, EU4Environment Project Manager, talk on Phase II of the RECP activities and introduction of the concept of Single Market for Green Products in Azerbaijan where she touched a new concept widely applied across the Europe, namely Product Environmental Footprint and its possible implementation ways in Azerbaijan.
In closing remarks session Mr. Yashar Karimov mentioned the urgency of adopting EPR law in Azerbaijan that will have legally binding provisions over producers and increase their environmental responsibility. Mr. Shamil Huseynov, an independent expert on environmental and energy legislation highlighted the importance of energy efficiency, especially in construction sector, as well as the need for specialized agencies that will be in charge of demolition works of old buildings with possible use of the demolition materials as raw material for new construction projects or in other industries.
RECP Stakeholders Group Meeting was organized and held on 28 July 2022 between 10.00 – 18.00 at Marriott Hotel, Khojasan Hall in Baku. The meeting objective is to gather all stakeholders together to discusss, promote and build the national capacities to enable SMEs in switching to RECP. Also it aimed to identify opportunities that can support the creation of circular value chains through industrial waste maps to raise awareness about the benefits of a Circular Economy among enterprises, the government, and civil society.
Since the project start that was the first stakeholders meeting organized offline. The meeting gathered in common 37 participants together with observers- representatives from the Governmental institutions (including the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, as National Focal Points of the “EU4Environment” Action), Ministry of Energy, the Small and Medium Business Development Agency, State Statistic Committee, “Tamiz Shahar” OJSC, UNDP, UNIDO, the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs, representatives from companies, relevant institutions, associations, NGOs, independent experts and academia.
The Agenda, List of Attendees as well as the Minutes of the Meeting are available from: https://gb57.sharepoint.com/: